


#17 I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen, conclusion

by gpadow



Category: Gunsmoke, Matt/Kitty
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-20
Updated: 2011-09-20
Packaged: 2017-10-23 21:53:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/255415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gpadow/pseuds/gpadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>M&K hit the road to help a battered woman</p>
            </blockquote>





	#17 I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen, conclusion

**Author's Note:**

> This story respectfully features characters and canon from the television series, Gunsmoke, which aired in 1955. They do not belong to me.

#17 I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen part II

 

Mar. 16th, 2010 at 2:49 PM

 

"Wish I could give you something solid, Matt. But you know how these things are. The women always go back to these men."  
"I know what you mean, Cal. You say Betty Jean tried to leave a few times?"

"Horace would always bring her back, and then they'd have some story about her visiting a relative somewhere.  
Always a story about her injuries, too. I knew what he did but I couldn't get her to press charges. Then everything would be fine for a few months until something would set him off again.  
It's been a long time since I noticed any trouble."

"Well, Cal, I hope our showing up like this doesn't set him off. We didn't come here to bring any harm to Betty Jean."

The two men rode on silently for a while when Sheriff Coulter said, "I'm looking forward to meeting Miss Kitty again; been a long time."

"Yeah, you don't get down to Dodge much. It's changed a lot. Some day we'll have paved streets like Topeka, and you'll find me on a rocking chair, whittling," Matt said with a smile.

"And Kitty right beside you, Matt?"

The question took the marshal by surprise. He licked his lip and started to say something, but the words didn't come and he just looked away.

"None of my business, the sheriff said.  
Let's turn right at this fork and come into town from the northwest road. That way we can go straight to the freight office."

"Good idea, Sheriff."

Cal Coulter noticed Matt's formal tone and made a mental note to keep things about business.

Matt Dillon was relieved they would be stopping at the freight office without Kitty wanting to go along. He didn't want to worry about her being in the way if things got rough with Pickens.  
Later, she could be a big help in getting through to Betty Jean.

 

###

"That's strange, I've never known Horace to close up before six."

The two lawmen stood on the boardwalk outside the freight office reading the "closed" sign on the door.

"Does Pickens live in town?" Matt asked.

"Just on the outskirts. Wait here while I check around back. They always travel back and forth by buggy and keep it back there."

The sheriff left Matt to head down the alley toward the back of the office and storage rooms.

Matt cupped his hands around his eyes and leaned against the window. Nothing. Wait. Something shiny? Where was it? There. On the floor. Looks like..

"What the Hell.."  
Sheriff Coulter found the front door busted in and Matt Dillon standing inside the office. He was holding something in his hand.

"Cal, he has her. This is Kitty's ring."

 

###

"Horace, please. Miss Kitty hasn't done anything. When the Marshal finds out.."

"Hush up!  
This is all your fault!  
Dillon's whore had to come poking her nose in where it doesn't belong.."

Kitty's moans drew their attention.  
Betty Jean brought a small chair alongside the settee where Kitty lay, slowly regaining consciousness.  
She went to the kitchen and came back with a bottle of whiskey and a towel.

"Leave her be, woman!"

"She won't be any good to us if she can't travel, Horace. She might be hurt bad."

Pickens allowed his wife to dab whiskey on the cuts and bruises while he watched through the window for signs of the marshal.

Kitty jerked her head away as she fought through the sting of the whiskey.

"Shh.. It's Betty Jean, Miss Kitty. You're okay. Shh.. Let me clean those cuts for you."

"Wha..what happened? What is this place?"

Betty Jean helped Kitty to sit up and whispered, "I'm so sorry, Miss Kitty."

Kitty had trouble seeing clearly and realized one eye was swollen shut. She ran her tongue around the inside of her mouth. No missing teeth. Her lip was cut and swollen and her body had painful bruises, but she thought she could stand and walk.

"There he is. Big as life," Pickens snarled.

He grabbed Kitty and yanked her to her feet.

"Betty, grab my suitcase and the leather case with the money and follow us outside."

"That's far enough, Dillon!"

"Where's Kitty Russell?" Matt shouted.

"Right here!"

The door to the cottage opened and Horace Pickens dragged Kitty out, holding her in a tight grip, using her as a shield.

"Go put those things in the buggy," Pickens ordered his wife.

Matt got down from his horse and walked toward them. He could see Kitty had been badly beaten and he clenched his teeth. He could hardly see Horace Pickens behind her, but the man had a gun pressed up beneath her breast.

"Betty Jean, Kitty called in a coarse voice. You're free now."

"Shut up you!"

"Kitty, don't," Matt pleaded.

"He's not taking you. It's only his things," Kitty said.

"Let the women go, Pickens," Matt said, trying to distract the man.

"You don't give the orders here! Throw your gun down or she dies right now."

"All right. Just take it easy." Matt carefully took the Colt from his holster and threw it on the ground.

Pickens relaxed his grip a bit and held the gun out toward Matt.

"Hold it!"

The startled man turned and fired in the direction of the voice, hitting Sheriff Coulter.  
The lawman fell at the feet of Betty Jean, who let out a scream.  
Kitty jerked her head back, sharply butting Pickens in the nose, knocking off his glasses.

"You bitch!"  
He raised the gun to strike her when he realized Matt had leaped to the ground to retrieve his gun.

Grabbing Kitty closer he put the gun to her head and yelled, "I'll kill her!"

Matt lay on the ground with the gun aimed up at the madman but he knew with Kitty blocking him, and the gun at her head, he couldn't take the chance.

"All right. Calm down. I'm putting my gun down."

"Throw it over here."

Matt tossed the gun at his feet.

"I've had enough of you, Dillon. You and your whore."

He took aim at Matt as a shot rang out.

For a brief moment everything seemed frozen in time. Then Pickens fired his pistol, just missing Matt's head.

Kitty gasped, and then felt the weight of her captor fall against her back and shoulders as they both tumbled to the ground.

"Kitty!" Matt called.  
Over the fallen bodies, he could see behind them Betty Jean Pickens, holding in her extended arms the smoking pistol she used to shoot her husband.

Matt scrambled to his feet and ran to Kitty as she pushed the dead man's body off of her own and tried to stand. Matt swept her into his arms and held her tight.

Sheriff Coulter, bleeding from the shoulder, gently took his gun back from Betty Jean.  
The woman was in shock and didn't respond as he led her to a chair in front of the cottage.

"Matt, are you two okay?" Coulter called out.

Matt looked down at a trembling and battered Kitty leaning against his chest.  
He stroked her back, held her close, and quietly said, "We're okay, we're okay."

 

###

Matt Dillon walked across the hotel room in his bare feet, wearing a nightshirt that made him feel foolish. Kitty insisted on it, and after everything she'd been though he couldn't refuse.  
She sat up in bed and smiled as she watched her big man mix some of the powder the Wichita doctor gave them into a glass of water.

"Here you are ma'am."

"Can I have a brandy, too?"

"You should eat more supper first."

"It hurts when I chew."

Matt sat on the edge of the bed and tenderly placed his hand on the side of Kitty's face. The eye was less swollen, but had turned black and blue.

"Did you see how people on the train looked at us? They think I beat you."

"I know. I'm sorry that makes you uncomfortable, Cowboy. This trip didn't turn out the way we thought it would, did it?"

Matt hung his head and replied, "We were just supposed to meet Betty Jean to try to find the truth. Instead, you almost got killed."

"But we did find the truth."

Kitty patted the bed and Matt came around to slide in beside her. He put a protective arm around her and she cuddled next to him stroking his chest through the soft cotton nightshirt.

"I still owe you a massage."

"I'll collect that debt when we get home."

"Home. That sounds good."

Matt reached over to turn down the lamp on the bedside table. He gently rubbed Kitty's back as she lay against him breathing contentedly.

In the dark his soft baritone sounded a lullaby that covered her like a satin sheet and lulled her to sleep.

I'll take you home again, Kathleen  
To where your heart will feel no pain  
And when the fields are fresh and green  
I'll take you to your home again

 

The End


End file.
